BACKGROUND Myxomatous degeneration of the mitral valve is a common pathological finding in mitral valve surgery and the most common reason for severe mitral valve regurgitation. Considering the importance of right ventricular remodeling and global function after mitral valve surgery we tried to elucidate a possible association of myxomatous mitral valve and impairment of right atrial and ventri...

Transcatheter mitral valve intervention has emerged as an effective treatment option for symptomatic severe mitral regurgitation in patients considered to be inoperable or at high operative risk for surgical mitral valve surgery. Most transcatheter approaches are modifications of existing surgical approaches. Transcatheter edge-to-edge mitral valve repair with the MitraClip system has the large...

BACKGROUND In patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, obstruction to left ventricular outflow is produced by systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve. In many of these patients, the mitral leaflets are elongated and increased in overall size. Mitral valve size may be responsible, in part, for the presence and magnitude of the outflow gradient and the pattern of systolic anterior motion o...

Background. Mitral valve replacement can be very difficult to obtain in infants because the valve annulus diameter can be smaller than the available prosthesis. Case Report. We describe the case of a 2-month-old female weighing 3.5 kg affected by mitral valve dysplasia leading to severe valve stenosis. Despite full medication, the clinical conditions were critical and surgery was undertaken. Th...

Background: Valve-in-Valve (VIV) Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) is now the treatment of choice in high-surgical-risk patients with failing aortic bioprosthesis. Although less performed, VIV-Transcatheter Mitral Valve Replacement (TMVR) is a valid treatment option for selected high-risk patients with degenerated mitral bioprostheses. Several cases of elective ViVTAVR and -TMVR hav...

Secondary mitral regurgitation (MR) is more frequent, portends a worse prognosis and its diagnostic and management are more difficult in comparison with primary MR. The mechanism of secondary MR is linked to the left ventricle remodeling, while the valve morphology is normal. Surgical treatment of severe secondary MR consists either in mitral valve replacement or in mitral valve repair. The mos...

BACKGROUND Little is known about the pathophysiology of myxomatous degeneration of the mitral valve, the pathological hallmark of mitral valve prolapse, associated with symptomatic mitral regurgitation, heart failure, and death. Excess transforming growth factor (TGF)-β signaling is known to cause mitral valve degeneration and regurgitation in a mouse model of Marfan syndrome. We examined if TG...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to assess exercise-induced changes in stroke volume and their main determinants in mitral stenosis. BACKGROUND The mechanisms of the stroke volume response to exercise in mitral stenosis are not clearly established. METHODS Twenty-seven patients with mitral stenosis, aged 47 +/- 13 years, and 10 healthy control subjects, aged 46 +/- 11 years, were examin...

In the mitral valve, regional variations in structure and material properties combine to affect the biomechanics of the entire valve. From previous studies, we know that the mitral valve leaflet tissue is highly extensible. A two-dimensional model of the mitral valve was generated using an Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) mesh. A simple approximation of the heart geometry was used and the va...

BACKGROUND Functional tricuspid regurgitation (TR) occurs in patients with rheumatic mitral valve disease even after mitral valve surgery. The aim of this study was to analyze surgical results of TR after previous successful mitral valve surgery. METHODS From September 1996 to September 2008, 45 patients with TR after previous mitral valve replacement underwent second operation for TR. In tho...